Scientists Have Created Plastic-Eating Mushrooms

All that plastic we throw away doesn't just go away, since most plastics aren't biodegradable. But what if we could design something that would eat it? Thanks to some Yale researchers and an Amazonian fungus, that's a very real possibility.

Discovered in 2012, the mushroom is capable of metabolizing polyurethane. Australian designer Katharina Unger has already worked with Julia Kaisinger and Utrecht University to create an incubator for the mushrooms, which feeds them sugars, starches, and plastic. And the mushrooms eventually digest the plastics completely.

But it doesn't end there. The mushroom is edible, so this contraption, called a Fungi Mutarium, is also growing the mushrooms for consumption. Currently, it takes a little while for the mushrooms to digest the plastics fully, but it may be well worth the wait if this can actually help reduce household waste headed to landfills.